Declaring that 'India will get there', India's Sports Minister M.S. Gill told parliament Thursday that the stadia and other infrastructure will be ready much before the Commonwealth Games (CWG) begins Oct 3. 'Have faith in India. India will get there,' Gill told opposition members led by Prakash Javdekar of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Brinda Karat of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) who raised the issue of delays and alleged corrupt deals related to the CWG in the Rajya Sabha, parliament's upper house. Former sports minister Mani Shankar Aiyar demanded an apex body at the earliest to oversee the CWG work. He said the Group of Ministers (GOM) on the CWG had been a 'blatant failure'. Regarding alleged corruption in CWG, Gill said his ministry had written to various ministries, including the external affairs and finance ministries, to take action on persons found guilty of misappropriating funds.
Javdekar said the government should make it clear whether the games would be conducted properly.Karat said the CWG had turned into a 'game of corruption' and it was not 'justifiable to give license to corruption for two more months in the name of conducting the CWG'. The Games will be held Oct 3-14. It will have participation from 71 countries and territories that are members of the Commonealth of Nations that were at one time part of the British Empire.
The Tata group, India's oldest and best-known conglomerate, is looking for a successor to its chairman, Ratan Tata, and is considering people from overseas to lead a business empire ranging from salt and steel, to cars and software. Ratan Tata, who took the company global and made the world's cheapest car, will retire by the end of 2012. The firm's holding company has set up a panel that will search for a replacement within and outside the group within the group, for Tata, who is also Chief Executive. With annual revenue of more than $70 billion, and with 357,000 employees worldwide, Tata group's 98 operating companies derive more than 65 percent of revenue from overseas.
Given that base, the firm, synonymous with India's industrial growth, could see its first non-Indian chief executive. No other Indian family run conglomerate has looked overseas to fill the top spot. Even though Ratan Tata has said he will look outside India for his successor, speculation is building that his half-brother, 53-year-old Noel Tata, may succeed him. The announcement of the panel comes less than a week after Noel Tata was appointed to the top spot at Tata International, which trades in leather, steel and sponge iron. Some analysts expect Ratan Tata's immediate successor will be from outside the family. Another name in the frame is Arun Sarin, former chief executive of British mobile phone giant Vodafone. "This announcement makes it almost certain that the group will have a professional running the show. A family member can then be groomed over the next 10 years," Arun Kejriwal, director at Mumbai-based research firm KRIS, said. "The group may have realised that Noel Tata doesn't have the experience to run such a large group, but he has been substantially elevated."
BIG FIRM, BIG DEALS
The group, founded in 1868, runs India's top vehicle maker, Tata Motors, top software services firm Tata Consultancy Services, top private sector power producer Tata Power and the world's seventh-largest steel maker by output, Tata Steel.In 2007, Tata Steel paid $13 billion for Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus, the largest acquisition by an Indian company, which catapulted the unit to the world's sixth-largest steelmaker spot at the time. In 2008, Tata Motors paid $2.3 billion to acquire Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Co, the first time an Indian automaker bought brands from a U.S. automaker.
While those decisions were praised by many, Tata also drew criticism for the pricey deals. The chairman, who is a descendant of the conglomerate's founder, was the driving force behind the Nano, the world's cheapest car at 100,000 rupees ($2165), which it unveiled in 2008. Ratan Tata, who was ranked No. 59 among the 2009 Forbes list of the world's most powerful people, serves on the boards of Fiat SpAand Alcoa and is an advisor to Mitsubishi Corporation, American International Group, JP Morgan Chase and Rolls Royce.
Research In Motion(RIM.TO) unveiled a new BlackBerry aimed at wooing consumers away from Apple's(AAPL.O) iPhone and other rivals, but analysts said the handset won't blow away the competition. Even though the main features of the BlackBerry Torch, including a touchscreen and slideout keyboard, were well-known within the industry, investors registered their disappointment, driving RIM's Toronto-listed shares down 4 percent. The Torch will go on sale in the United States on Aug. 12 for $199.99 with a two-year contract -- about the same price as an iPhone. The new BlackBerry uses a revamped operating system and has a faster and easier-to-use Web browser.
Underscoring RIM's intention to compete head to head with the iPhone, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company will launch the phone in the United States with AT&T Inc (T.N), the same carrier that has exclusive U.S. rights to the iPhone. Analysts at Tuesday's launch event in New York said the Torch does not represent a major advance but that its consumer-friendly features were enough to help RIM to catch up to rivals. "RIM is playing catch-up. This is clearly the upgrade for BlackBerry users, but otherwise not a lot here is super exciting," Altimeter analyst Michael Gartenberg said. The Torch does not represent a "leap forward", but will help RIM compete with rivals such as iPhone and Google Inc's Android software, used in phones from several vendors including Motorola Inc, said NPD analyst Ross Rubin."This gets the experience competitive again -- if they can do that with the efficiency and stability that RIM is known for, then it's a positive," Rubin said. Some analysts have said the Torch's success will depend how heavily it is promoted by AT&T, which said it collaborated with RIM on the device for thousands of hours.
AT&T described the device as the best BlackBerry ever but declined to say how much advertising the company will spend on the phone or how it would compare to the amount of money it spends on iPhone advertising. "It will be as big a campaign as you've seen in some time," Chief Marketing Officer David Christopher told Reuters. BlackBerry's nearly air-tight encryption has come under scrutiny in several overseas markets recently. The United Arab Emirates threatened on Sunday to ban some BlackBerry services unl ess RIM gives it access to encrypted messages. India's Economic Times reported that RIM will allow Indian security authorities to monitor BlackBerry services.
RIM Chief Technology Officer David Yach declined to comment on discussions with specific governments. "I believe they'll have trouble pulling the trigger to shut down BlackBerry," Yach said. "Most governments in the world rely on BlackBerry." While the BlackBerry has long been the gold standard for corporate and government customers because of its speedy, secure email service, critics said it needs a big overhaul to expand its popularity beyond business customers. One of the new features RIM touted is the ability to search any application, media content or contact by typing a word on in Torch's "universal search" function.
BlackBerry Torch users can type messages on the screen or a slide-out keyboard. It comes with a 5-megapixel camera with a flash and a built-in GPS for location-based applications. The new BlackBerry 6 operating system also offers an inbox where users can access updates from social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter in the same place as their emails. "It's a really special product because so much new goodness has been a dded to it." said Mike Lazaridis, RIM's president and co-chief executive. The August launch was earlier than some analysts expected.
"I'm glad to see they got it out sooner rather than later," said Nick Agostino at Mackie Research Capital. RIM's success will depend on positive industry reviews and adoption by developers of applications, he said. The Torch's success could also hinge on RIM's ability to convince software developers to create applications for the device. Analysts say a big part of the iPhone's appeal is the huge choice of applications that it has to offer. "Developers want to go where the consumers are and consumers want to go where the developers are. RIM is going to have to tell a very compelling story to attract the first batch of developers," he said. RIM fell 2.7 percent to $55.44 on the Nasdaq stock market. Its Toronto-listed shares fell 4 percent to C$56.75. AT&T shares rose 5 cents to $26.64.
Indian Hotels Co Ltd(IHTL.BO), owner of the Taj luxury chain, plans to selectively expand across the globe but would have to improve its profit margins further, Chairman Ratan Tata said on Thursday.
"The company proposes to continue its expansion plans on a selective basis for both business and leisure globally, so that we can build the brand on a global basis," Tata said.
Tata, who heads the salt-to-software Tata Group, India's oldest conglomerate, was addressing shareholders of Indian Hotels during its annual general meeting. (AGM).
He is set to retire by end 2012 and the group has launched the search for a successor to a business empire ranging from salt and steel, to hotels, cars and software.
The Taj group at present has 104 hotels across the globe, including the budget hotel chain 'Ginger'
Indian Hotel's firm's April-June net profit plunged to 33.3 million rupees from 164.4 million rupees last year.
The firm is restoring the property and hopes to reopen the renovated wing by the middle of August 2010, Tata said.
Indian Hotels has said it is looking to increase its room rates by September or October this year, its first hike after almost two years and looking to add close to 1,500 new rooms in FY11 across 13 hotels in India and South Africa.
Tata said he was upbeat about the growth prospects about the Indian hotel and tourism industry which has seen a revival since October 2009.
India's hotel and tourism industry is currently recovering from a near two-year economic slow-down worsened by a militant attack in November 2008 on Indian Hotels' Taj Mahal Hotel and EIH owned Trident-Oberoi in southern Mumbai.
India requires investments worth 600 billion rupees over the next five years to cope with the unmet demand for about 150,000 rooms, according to FICCI-Evalueserve.
Shares of the firm ended down 3.21 percent at 96.55 rupees in a weak Mumbai market.
Reliance Industries(RELI.BO), India's biggest-listed conglomerate, will aquire a 60 percent stake in a joint venture with Carrizo Oil & Gas(CRZO.O) at the booming Marcellus Shale region, marking its third shale gas purchase in the United States this year. Reliance has been investing in new areas such as shale gas as it seeks a foothold overseas and seeks to expand its businesses beyond petrochemicals, refining, oil and gas exploration, and retail. The conglomerate, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, the world's fourth-richest man, recently bought significant stakes in the shale gas assets of U.S. firms Atlas Energy Inc and Pioneer Natural Resources.
"Why Reliance is going so aggressively into shale gas is because reports indicate shale gas output will replace about 25 percent of conventional gas production in the U.S. over the next decade," Sonam Udasi, head of research at IDBI Capital, said on Thursday. "This is a longer-term plan to be one of the key five to six companies in the shale business in the world's biggest energy market, the United States," he said.
Oil companies including BP Plc, Total, Statoil and Mitsui & Co have bought into shales, rock formations that could hold vast amounts of natural gas. Under the latest deal, Reliance will pay $392 million, comprising of $340 million of cash and $52 million to develop assets in the Marcellus Shale gas project -- one of the most promising natural gas deposit regions in the United States. The region, according to some geologists, could hold enough natural gas to satisfy U.S. demand for a decade. Under the deal with Carrizo, Reliance is paying about $6,200 per acre for its share of the Marcellus acreage. The company, at the forefront of India's push in shale gas, had paid around $14,000 an acre under its deal with Atlas. Reliance shares traded flat on Thursday in a Mumbai market up 0.2 percent. Carrizo shares closed flat at $20.1 on Nasdaq on Wednesday.
While the shale formations have proven to be lucrative, they are also very expensive to develop and environmentally sensitive. Joint ventures have given the independent oil companies, who own much of the acreage in these areas, access to capital and should allow foreign oil firms to pick up expertise in new drilling techniques developed for the shales.
COSTS
Reliance's $52 million contribution to drilling costs will provide for 75 percent of Carrizo's share of development costs over an anticipated two year development program, the Indian company said in a statement on Thursday. The deal is expected to close by mid-September. The joint venture will have about 104,400 net acres of undeveloped leasehold in the core area of the Marcellus Shale in Central and Northeast Pennsylvania, of which Reliance's 60 percent interest will represent about 62,600 net acres. Reliance will buy 20 percent of Carrizo's interest in a JV the U.S. company has with an affiliate of private-equity firm Avista Capital Partners. Reliance will buy all of Avista's interest in the JV.
Carrizo will serve as the development operator for the joint venture and Reliance has the option to act as a development operator in certain regions in the coming years as part of the joint venture. Jefferies & Co Inc acted as lead financial advisor and Vinson & Elkins LLP acted as legal counsel to Reliance. BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank provided strategic advice to Reliance.
U.S. cable television companies wooed home Internet users from rivals in the second quarter, helping offset a trend that has seen their television customers flee to top satellite player DirecTV Group(DTV.O).
Time Warner Cable Inc (TWC.N) and Cablevision Systems Corp (CVC.N) reported on Thursday, like Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) last week, that they successfully added Internet subscribers in what is now a key focus for companies that were originally built on the back of cable TV programming.
Time Warner Cable Chief Executive Glenn Britt said on a conference call that successfully marketing Internet access is as important, if not more so, as selling bundles of TV shows.
"Broadband is still growing nicely and becoming a more important part of people's every day lives and we're seeing tangible evidence the consumers are willing to pay more for the speed and reliability," Britt said.
Time Warner Cable added 85,000 broadband subscribers during the quarter, while Cablevision added 27,000. Comcast, the No.1 U.S. cable company added 118,000.
With rising programming costs in their video businesses, cable companies see broadband, with its relatively fixed costs, as a more profitable business to grow.
Cablevision for instance said it plans to offer more video applications to customers who use Internet-enabled devices at home and free Wi-Fi connections to its customers around major spots in its local area.
"Broadband is increasingly important for cable companies," said Collins Stewart analyst Thomas Eagan. "It has become the strategic focus, with TV following."
The top two cable companies both lost video subscribers during the quarter: Comcast lost 265,000, while Time Warner Cable lost 111,000. Cablevision which has been competing aggressively with Verizon Communications (VZ.N) in its New York area managed to buck that trend in the quarter by adding 2,900.
DirecTV Group added 100,000 U.S. subscribers, beating the forecasts of most analysts, some of which had worried the company might lose customers due to the slow economy and competition from cable and newcomers to the pay-TV market like Verizon's FiOS and AT&T Inc's U-Verse.
"For years, questions have swirled about DirecTV's ability to sustain subscriber growth in the U.S. Not to worry. Today's results suggest that subscriber growth is just fine, thank you," said Bernstein Research analyst Craig Moffett in a client note.
PROFITS
Both Time Warner Cable and Cablevision posted financial results ahead or in line with expectations.
Time Warner Cable's net income rose to 95 cents a share, beating average Wall Street forecasts for 93 cents. While its revenue rose 5.8 percent to $4.73 billion, ahead of average forecasts of $4.68 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
"Overall they struck a good balance between customer and financial growth," said Eagan of Collins Stewart.
Cablevision's net income was 20 cents a share sharply missing an average Wall Street forecast of 40 cents, mainly due to the one-time loss on extinguishment of debt. Bernstein Research said excluding that loss, Cablevision's profit was in line with consensus.
Revenue rose 5.8 percent to $1.802 billion ahead a forecast of $1.769 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Bernstein's Moffett said Cablevision's second quarter had shown "almost no discernible weak points".
DirecTV, which also added 415,000 subscribers in Latin America, posted an adjusted profit of 60 cents a share, in line with expectations. Its revenue rose 12 percent to $5.85 billion.
Shares in Time Warner Cable and Cablevision have risen more than 40 percent and 30 percent respectively since the start of the year as investors have bet that cable will be a leader in future communications thanks to its broadband strength.
U.S. regulators halted closed-door negotiations about net neutrality rules with phone, cable and Internet companies on Thursday after reports of a side deal between two participants, Verizon Communications Inc(VZ.N) and Google Inc(GOOG.O), surfaced.
"We have called off this round of stakeholder discussions," said Edward Lazarus, chief of staff for Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski.
The collapse means Genachowski may have to decide how to regulate Internet access without further input from the industry. His decision will likely be challenged in court.
"It has been productive on several fronts, but has not generated a robust framework to preserve the openness and freedom of the Internet," Lazarus said of the meetings in a statement. "All options remain on the table."
An analyst warned that the series of private meetings among industry stakeholders could implode due to the deal between Verizon and Google over a set of Internet traffic principles, called net neutrality.
"Any outcome, any deal that doesn't preserve the freedom and openness of the Internet for consumers and entrepreneurs will be unacceptable," Genachowski told reporters.
His comments and the decision to halt the meetings were lauded by public interest groups.
"We're relieved to see that the FCC now apparently finds dangerous side deals from companies like Verizon and Google to be distasteful and unproductive," Derek Turner, research director at the public interest group Free Press, said.
Under the deal, Verizon would not block or slow Internet traffic over land lines, but could do so to wireless devices, one source told Reuters on Wednesday.
A Verizon spokesman on Thursday denied that the deal represents a business arrangement between the two companies.
The agreement was reached while the private FCC meetings involving the two companies, AT&T Inc (T.N) and oth er Internet companies to set rules for the industry were taking place.
According to several people who have been briefed on the FCC meetings, no consensus was imminent and it would have been unlikely for Congress to pass any such agreed-upon framework in a bill in this session, especially with the looming elections.
CLASSIFYING BROADBAND
The FCC voted in June to collect public comments on whether the agency should reclassify broadband regulation under existing phone rules -- typically considered a stricter regulatory regime.
Any compromise on net neutrality could have staved off reclassification, a move aimed at giving the FCC more power over broadband access after a stinging court loss.
Earlier this year, a U.S. appeals court ruled that the FCC lacked authority to stop cable television company Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) from blocking bandwidth-hogging applications.
The deal between Verizon and Google was not a complete surprise for the industry because the two companies have worked closely in the wireless device area.
Verizon Wireless, a venture between Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L), depends heavily on phones based on Google's Android software for growth.
It is not known if the other stakeholders would find the deal an acceptable framework for their businesses but AT&T said it is not a party to the deal.
Charging Up Electric Car Batteries in Environmentally-Friendly Way
ScienceDaily — Electromobility makes sense only if car batteries are charged using electricity from renewable energy sources. But the supply of green electricity is not always adequate. An intelligent charging station can help, by adapting the recharging times to suit energy supply and network capacity.
Germany aims to have one million electric vehicles -- powered by energy from renewable sources -on the road by 2020. And, within ten years, the German environment ministry expects "green electricity" to make up 30 percent of all power consumed. Arithmetically speaking, it would be possible to achieve CO2-neutral electromobility. But, in reality, it is a difficult goal to attain. As more and more solar and wind energy is incorporated in the power grid, the proportion of electricity that cannot be controlled by simply pressing a button is on the increase. In addition, there is a growing risk that the rising number of electric vehicles will trigger extreme surges in demand during rush hour.
"What we need is a smart grid that carries information in addition to power," says Dominik Noeren of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE. The structure of the grid has to change from a push system based on energy demand to a pull system based on production output. In Noeren's opinion, "electric cars are best equipped to meet this challenge." Introduced in large numbers, they have the capacity to store a lot of energy. On average, a car is parked for at least 20 hours out of 24. That is more than enough time to recharge them when the wind picks up or the demand for electricity is low.
Developed by Fraunhofer researchers, the "smart" charging station is a device that enables electric vehicles to recharge when the system load is low and the share of energy from renewable resources is high. In this way, load peaks can be avoided and the contribution of solar and wind power fully exploited. "For us, it is important that end consumers are completely free to decide when they want to recharge. We do not want them to suffer any disadvantages from the controlled recharging of their vehicles' batteries," Noeren emphasizes. That's why he favors electricity rates that adapt to the prevailing situation in the power grid -- ones that are more expensive in periods of peak demand and particularly cheap when there is a surfeit of renewable energy.
The person using the "smart" charging station could then choose between recharging immediately or opting for a cheaper, possibly longer, recharging time. If they go for the second option, all they need to do is enter the time when their vehicle has to be ready to drive again. The charging station takes care of everything else, calculating the costs and controlling the recharging process. Via the display the user can track the progress of recharging and also see the costs incurred and the amount of energy used.
The experts will be presenting their charging device at the Hannover Messe from April 19 through 23.
MUNICH: Web browsers are the key to the internet. Without them the internet is an impenetrable black box.
Browsers may be among the most commonly used applications, but they also offer the greatest number of attack options for dangerous content on the net. To keep viruses, worms and other malware away from your computer when surfing, it's crucial to configure your browser for security.
The firewall on a DSL router is a good first step for protecting the computer during surfing, says Marco Rinne from the computer portal chip.de. But that doesn't hold true if your browser is out of date: “Internet Explorer 6 and 7 or Firefox 2 no longer satisfy current security standards,” he says. For optimal protection, he therefore urges users to keep their browsers updated.
There are numerous security tools already present in Firefox and Internet Explorer. The pop-up blocker, for example, prevents more than just annoying ads. It also throttles other windows that can be used to sneak malicious software onto PCs. Phishing filters protect personal data against theft.
Firefox offers additional configuration options under the Settings item in the Security tab of the Options dialog box: this includes the ability to block risky or forged websites. It's also a good idea to prohibit websites from installing add-ons on their own. Similar settings are possible under Internet Explorer in the Security tab of the Internet Options dialog box, accessible from the Tools menu.
Computer owners should also activate all options for warning against attacks, advises Markus Linnemann, managing director of the Institute for Internet Security (ifis) at the Polytechnic University of Gelsenkirchen in Germany. This applies in particular to warnings about suspicious content to be displayed using ActiveX, Flash, or JavaScript.
Yet the warning mechanism on most browsers alone isn't usually enough, Linnemann says. Those who wish to be especially careful can, for example, use the Firefox add-on 'No Script,' which blocks all active content of a website by default and allows the user to decide which should be permitted. The problem is that most users are unable to determine which content represents a threat to their computer, Rinne msays.
Mumbai: Videocon has unveiled a new range of handsets that include the Qruz V1425, V1424, and V1430. The latest array of handsets takes Videocon's count of mobiles to 25.
The Qruz V1425 is a 100W PMPO Music Output phone. It is a dual SIM phone with extra large boom speaker with back cover Mesh Grill, VGA Camera, Bluetooth, long 1200 mAH battery, MP3 player, high resolution 2 inch TFT screen, expandable memory up to 4GB, 1000 Phonebook/500 SMS memory and LED torch with Mobile Tracker.
The USP of the V1430 is that it is a long battery phone. It is also a dual sim phone and has a VGA Camera with Video Recorder, 1800 mAH battery (up to 600minutes talk/20days standby time), and 1.8 inch TFT screen, MP3 player with dedicated key, Bluetooth and expandable memory up to 4GB.
Completing the range is the V1424, a phone that scores more in the looks area with Gun Metal Linings. This dual SIM phone also comes with VGA Camera, MP3 Player, expandable memory up to 2GB, a 2 inch TFT screen, Bluetooth and Mobile Tracker.
Rahul Goel, COO, Videocon Mobile, said, "Features and functionality desired by customers are our key targets. Long battery life; Music device; and Stylish looks are steps in this direction. With multiple solutions for interconnected life, we are providing customers with device that helps them manage their tasks easily."
Yahoo hosted 24-hour 'hacking' event in India's tech hub
Bangalore: Global search engine Yahoo hosted a non-stop 24-hour "hacking" event on Saturday noon in this tech hub where about 300 whiz-kids used its web tools and services to develop new applications, a company official said Friday.
"About 300 developers across India participated in the 24-hour hacking event, which involved using our web tools, services and application programming interfaces (APIs) to innovate new solutions for our global netizens," Yahoo India Research and Development Head Shouvick Mukherjee said.
Being held for the third consecutive year, the "Open Hack Day" aimed at nurturing the open innovation ecosystem in India and drive domain expertise in the internet space.
"Open Hack Days enable talented developers to create better, more relevant and more social experiences on our network. The spirit is to leverage our open APIs and developer tools to create newer applications," Mukherjee said.
Clarifying that the web portal's hacking concept was different from the popular perception of gaining illegal entry into computers and network resources with a malicious intent, Mukherjee said the developers would get a lifetime opportunity to play with Yahoo! Query Language (YQL).
"Our type of hackers will use the YQL to create and use their own table definitions, enabling the language to bind to any data source through the SQL-like syntax and fetch data," Mukherjee noted.
The language platform also enables developers to query, filter, update and combine data across the web.
Developers can also write new applications using the Yahoo Application Platform (YAP) in an open, self service web applications environment.
"Participants allowed to write applications front-end in HTML (hyper text markup language, CSS (cascading styling sheets), Java Script and in the language of their choice," Mukherjee pointed out.
With YAP, a developer can get in front of the largest daily audience on the web.
Yahoo began Hack Days as an internal event 12 years ago to bring its developers together and expanded into regular events in its offices the world over.
The annual event was also held in Sunnyvale in the U.S., London, Brazil and Taiwan during the last decade.
"Bangalore has the distinction of hosting for the third time consecutively," Mukherjee added.
London: A 15-year-old boy managed to dupe Apple by creating an iPhone application that connects to the Internet for free but it is no longer available.
To access the web through the iPhone costs around 13 pounds a month.
Nick Lee designed a application which at first glance appears to allow users to change the colour of their screen. It was charged at less than a dollar to upload from the Apple iTunes online music store.
However, the application contains a hidden code that allows people to use their iPhone as a modem and access the Internet without paying, the Telegraph reported.
The application was removed as soon as news of its true nature appeared online. Those who downloaded it, however, can keep enjoying its benefits.
"I'm going to use this little gem of an application to my heart's content. I'm typing on it now, and I'm going to see just how much data I can use all afternoon. I was able to get download speeds of roughly 2.5 Mbps," an online user who downloaded the application before it was removed said.
ScienceDaily — Researchers have collected venom from octopuses in Antarctica for the first time, significantly advancing our understanding of the properties of venom as a potential resource for drug development.
The study, conducted by an international team of researchers from the University of Melbourne, the Norwegian University of Technology and Science and the University of Hamburg, provides the first insight into the properties of Antarctic octopus venom. It has also revealed the existence of four new species of octopus.
Venom has long been recognised as a potentially valuable resource for drug development. However, scientists have only recently discovered the largely untapped resource cephalopods such as octopuses, cuttlefish and squid, possess in their unique venom properties -- especially the species that live in sub-zero temperatures.
Team Leader, Dr Bryan Fry from the Bio21 Institute says it was a mystery how venomous animals have adapted their venom to have an effect even in sub-zero temperatures, where most venoms would normally lose their function.
"This is the first study that has collected Antarctic octopus venom and confirmed that these creatures have adapted it to work in sub zero temperatures -- the next step is to work out what biochemical tricks they have used," he says.
Dr Fry says the venom analysis revealed that Antarctic octopus venom harbours a range of toxins, two of which had not previously been described.
"We have discovered new small proteins in the venom with very intriguing activities -- these are potentially useful in drug design, but more will be revealed as the study continues," he says.
The study follows from Dr Fry's revelation last year that all octopuses are venomous. The team of scientists then embarked on a huge task to collect and study completely novel venoms to gain a greater understanding of how they work.
"An understanding of the structure and mode of action of venom found in all octopuses may help design drugs for conditions like pain management, allergies and cancer."
Through funding from the Australian Antarctic Division, the team collected 203 octopuses from Antarctic waters. They then genetically profiled each specimen to identify the species and collected venom to analyse in the lab.
"Not only do Antarctic octopuses have the most unique venoms out there, but there is a lot more species than we originally thought."
Marine Phytoplankton Declining: Striking Global Changes at the Base of the Marine Food Web Linked to Rising Ocean Temperatures
ScienceDaily — A new article published in the 29 July issue of the journal Nature reveals for the first time that microscopic marine algae known as "phytoplankton" have been declining globally over the 20th century. Phytoplankton forms the basis of the marine food chain and sustains diverse assemblages of species ranging from tiny zooplankton to large marine mammals, seabirds, and fish. Says lead author Daniel Boyce, "Phytoplankton is the fuel on which marine ecosystems run. A decline of phytoplankton affects everything up the food chain, including humans."
Using an unprecedented collection of historical and recent oceanographic data, a team from Canada's Dalhousie University documented phytoplankton declines of about 1% of the global average per year. This trend is particularly well documented in the Northern Hemisphere and after 1950, and would translate into a decline of approximately 40% since 1950. The scientists found that long-term phytoplankton declines were negatively correlated with rising sea surface temperatures and changing oceanographic conditions.
The goal of the three-year analysis was to resolve one of the most pressing issues in oceanography, namely to answer the seemingly simple question of whether the ocean is becoming more (or less) „green' with algae. Previous analyses had been limited to more recent satellite data (consistently available since 1997) and have yielded variable results. To extend the record into the past, the authors analysed a unique compilation of historical measurements of ocean transparency going back to the very beginning of quantitative oceanography in the late 1800s, and combined these with additional samples of phytoplankton pigment (chlorophyll) from ocean-going research vessels. The end result was a database of just under half a million observations which enabled the scientists to estimate phytoplankton trends over the entire globe going back to the year 1899.
The scientists report that most phytoplankton declines occurred in polar and tropical regions and in the open oceans where most phytoplankton production occurs. Rising sea surface temperatures were negatively correlated with phytoplankton growth over most of the globe, especially close to the equator. Phytoplankton need both sunlight and nutrients to grow; warm oceans are strongly stratified, which limits the amount of nutrients that are delivered from deeper waters to the surface ocean. Rising temperatures may contribute to making the tropical oceans even more stratified, leading to increasing nutrient limitation and phytoplankton declines. The scientists also found that large-scale climate fluctuations, such as the El-Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), affect phytoplankton on a year-to-year basis, by changing short-term oceanographic conditions.
The findings contribute to a growing body of scientific evidence indicating that global warming is altering the fundamentals of marine ecosystems. Says co-author Marlon Lewis, "Climate-driven phytoplankton declines are another important dimension of global change in the oceans, which are already stressed by the effects of fishing and pollution. Better observational tools and scientific understanding are needed to enable accurate forecasts of the future health of the ocean." Explains co-author Boris Worm, "Phytoplankton are a critical part of our planetary life support system. They produce half of the oxygen we breathe, draw down surface CO2, and ultimately support all of our fisheries. An ocean with less phytoplankton will function differently, and this has to be accounted for in our management efforts."
Samaraweera eased to a 12th test hundred before Sri Lanka were bowled out for 425 in their first innings on the second day of the third and final test against India on Wednesday.
India had replied with 28 without loss at tea with Murali Vijay unbeaten on six and Virender Sehwag on 21.
Samaraweera started the day on 65 and was unbeaten on 137 when the final wicket fell.
Samaraweera reached his century in the final over before the lunch break, moving from 99 to 104 courtesy of an overthrow as he pushed the ball for a single to square leg but the return to the bowler's end ricocheted off the stumps and sped to the boundary.
Sri Lanka lost their last four wickets for 44 runs after lunch with Ishant Sharma ending the innings with the wickets of Ajantha Mendis and Chanaka Welagedara.
Sehwag accounted for Suraj Randiv for eight having him top edge a sweep and Amrit Mishra took his solitary wicket of the innings when he caught and bowled Lasith Malinga for four.
Shinzo Nakanishi also said the company, 54.2 percent owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp(7269.T), does not expect royalty payments to its parent to rise from about 5 percent of sales now.
In the June quarter the company's profit had dropped 20 percent on an unexpected rise in royalty fees, and triggered a slide in its shares.
Maruti reached full capacity of 1 million vehicles a year in March and has been struggling to cope with long queues of buyers.
It is building a second unit in the northern state of Haryana to add another production capability of another 250,000 vehicles a year, scheduled for completion by April 2012.
Nakanishi said he would like to step up production as quickly as possible but did not give a definite deadline.
He was speaking to reporters at the launch of an upgraded version of its best-selling Alto hatchback fitted with a 1 litre K-series engine.
Maruti, which sells one of every two new cars in India, has been losing market share to newer entrants such as Ford, Volkswagen and General Motors all of which have launched their own compact cars.
In the June quarter its market share dropped to 56 percent from 61 percent in the year-ago period.
Apart form its own production constraints, Nakanishi said supply bottlenecks from vendors were also affecting output.
In recent months component supply constraints had led to backlogs of up to 20 percent of its normal sales on almost all its models, marketing head Mayank Pareek said.
Maruti has also asked vendors to step up their investments in capacity expansion, he said.
"We are trying our best to fulfill demand," Pareek said.
Sales during April to July, the first four months of 2010/11 fiscal year, rose 26 percent from a year earlier to 384,181 vehicles.
However, exports to Europe have fallen 20-30 percent from a year earlier due to removal of incentives by countries such as Germany, Britain and France, Nakanishi said.
"To maintain the same export volumes as last year we have to find markets other than Europe," he said. The company has said earlier it was looking at newer markets such as Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
At 0914 GMT, Maruti shares valued at $7.6 billion were trading little changed at 1,212.15 rupees in a flat Mumbai market. The stock has fallen 22 percent so far this year, while the main index is up 3.7 percent.Maruti Suzuki(MRTI.BO), India's top car maker, is looking to speed up expansion plans to meet booming demand in the fast-growing south Asian country, its managing director said on Wednesday.
Shinzo Nakanishi also said the company, 54.2 percent owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp(7269.T), does not expect royalty payments to its parent to rise from about 5 percent of sales now.
In the June quarter the company's profit had dropped 20 percent on an unexpected rise in royalty fees, and triggered a slide in its shares.
Maruti reached full capacity of 1 million vehicles a year in March and has been struggling to cope with long queues of buyers.
It is building a second unit in the northern state of Haryana to add another production capability of another 250,000 vehicles a year, scheduled for completion by April 2012.
Nakanishi said he would like to step up production as quickly as possible but did not give a definite deadline.
He was speaking to reporters at the launch of an upgraded version of its best-selling Alto hatchback fitted with a 1 litre K-series engine.
Maruti, which sells one of every two new cars in India, has been losing market share to newer entrants such as Ford, Volkswagen and General Motors all of which have launched their own compact cars.
In the June quarter its market share dropped to 56 percent from 61 percent in the year-ago period.
Apart form its own production constraints, Nakanishi said supply bottlenecks from vendors were also affecting output.
In recent months component supply constraints had led to backlogs of up to 20 percent of its normal sales on almost all its models, marketing head Mayank Pareek said.
Maruti has also asked vendors to step up their investments in capacity expansion, he said.
"We are trying our best to fulfill demand," Pareek said.
Sales during April to July, the first four months of 2010/11 fiscal year, rose 26 percent from a year earlier to 384,181 vehicles.
However, exports to Europe have fallen 20-30 percent from a year earlier due to removal of incentives by countries such as Germany, Britain and France, Nakanishi said.
"To maintain the same export volumes as last year we have to find markets other than Europe," he said. The company has said earlier it was looking at newer markets such as Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
At 0914 GMT, Maruti shares valued at $7.6 billion were trading little changed at 1,212.15 rupees in a flat Mumbai market. The stock has fallen 22 percent so far this year, while the main index is up 3.7 percent.
17-year old Shourya Saluja develops cyber safety curriculum
Bangalore: Shourya Saluja, a Class 12 student of Indus International School-Bangalore, is busy on the process of developing a curriculum for Classes IX to XII, which will create awareness about cyber safety. The 17 year old Shourya has got the support from technology major Infosys to design the curriculam, which will be taught first in his school and later perhaps adopted by CBSE, reports Sruthy Susan Ullas of Times of India.
The three components of the curriculum will focus on different safety issues of social networking sites. "Children disclose too much information in their profiles, they upload photos and accept random people as friends just to increase the number in their friends' list. They don't know what dangers this can lead to," said Shourya. Kids will also be taught how to protect themselves from dangers like phishing messages, things to look after in a Local Area Network (LAN), internal security.
Cyber ethics will be another subject and kids will be tutored on how to be a good cyber citizen. Infosys will leverage its "subject matter expertise" to develop content as part of its corporate social responsibility initiative.
Shourya plans to rate the success of his programme after six months and then seek the Central Board of Secondary Education's approval to include it in the curriculum. He says he got the idea when his 10-year-old sister asked him to create a Facebook profile with all her information. "I realized that many children are ignorant about consequences of this," he said.
He approached the Punjab College of Engineering which has a cyber security research centre. "When I suggested teaching cyber safety in high school, they gave me the thumbs up. I did a three-week internship there, conducted surveys, did research and presented papers on the gap between the present curriculum and proved the need for this course." In June second week, Shourya presented a paper to Infosys and convinced it to help him in the course content.
British students could soon sit and study alongside Indians in lecture halls at universities in India as part of plans to make UK students more employable by giving them international experience of living in other countries. There is much hand-wringing among Britain's education leaders employers who seek to
expand abroad but find that students here do not know the language and other life skills to live and function outside UK.
There are several student exchange programmes allowing British students to spend a period of time to study abroad, particularly in European universities, but there is less enthusiasm among the students.
After returning from the recent visit to India, Universities minister David Willetts wants to develop joint undergraduate and postgraduate courses between UK and Indian universities that will allow British students to spend course time in India.
Currently, more than 40,000 Indian students are studying in Britain, but only 500 travelled to India every year, Willets told the Daily Telegraph.
"The number of students going to India at the moment is embarrassingly low. It is a scandal that only 500 British students currently go to one of the world's fastest growing economies. I want to get it up to the thousands quite soon."Under his plans, British students would be able to complete mainstream qualifications in India after starting them in Britain.The subjects in Indian universities of particular interest to Britons are Maths, Science and IT, subjects that have suffered considerably in Britain in recent decades due to lack of students and faculty members.
Willetts' move comes after business leaders claimed that young Britons were increasingly missing out in the workplace because of a poor grasp of foreign languages combined with a lack of experience of living abroad.
A report from the Confederation of British Industry earlier this year found that almost three-quarters of companies were dissatisfied with students' language skills while more than half warned of "shortfalls in their international cultural awareness" – potentially jeopardising trade with countries such as China, India, Russia and Brazil.
"Businesses say there aren't enough students with experience of languages, different cultures and the wider world," Willetts said.
Indians dress smartest for work, Europeans most casual - poll
Wearing shorts to work in Hungary might not merit a second glance but in India you are likely to be deemed a slacker who won't make senior management, according to a global Reuters/Ipsos poll on business attire.
A survey of about 12,500 people in 24 countries found that Europeans are the most casual when it comes to work clothes with only 27 percent wearing a business suit or smart clothes to work.
Hungary came bottom of the table with only 12 percent of workers saying they wore a suit or smart dress to work.
Among Hungarian workers, 46 percent said it was appropriate to wear shorts to work while 56 percent approved of thong sandals or flip-flops at work.
Indians were found to be the smartest when it came to work attire with 58 percent donning a suit or other smart clothing for work. Only 21 percent said it was fine to wear shorts.
Overall only 21 percent of workers said it was appropriate to wear thong sandals to work and just 24 percent approved of wearing shorts to work.
"It's clear that around the world dressing to your place in the hierarchy is more often the case than dressing to the elements," said John Wright, a senior vice president at market research company Ipsos.
For while four out of 10 workers wore casual clothes to work, the same amount -- four out of 10 -- said casual wear workers would never make it into senior management in their workplace.
The poll found that 66 percent of workers said senior managers that ran an organization should always be more dressed up than their employees.
Indians particularly did not see casual dressers rising up the ranks, with 64 percent saying they would not make senior management and 58 percent describing casual dressers as slackers.
India was followed by Saudi Arabia where 51 percent ruled out casual dressers making senior management with France coming third at 45 percent.
Swedes were the most relaxed when it came to bosses wearing casual clothes. Only 27 percent said casual dressing would be a bar to entering senior management.
Following are some results from the poll:
Do you wear business/smart dress to work? Are shorts OK?
India 58 percent 38 percent
South Korea 47 percent 27 percent
China 46 percent 21 percent